Millions of euros for a small stand? The state broke the law at Expo Osaka when it canceled the competition

SLOVAKIA TRAVEL State Agency violated the law when it purchased services for Expo Osaka 2025. The Office for this was decided Public procurement (ÚVO). Doubts and possible overpriced recently pointed out the Stop Corruption Foundation.

Slovak participation in the World Expo Osaka for more than nine million euros is accompanied by confusion, time stress and the first violation of the law was confirmed. Only the description of the subject of the contract has changed seven times. Responsibility bears the State Slovakia Travel, which falls under the Tourism Ministry and sports And recently for Expo Osaka, the management was replaced.

The Public Procurement Office decided that the agency must renew the canceled competition for the organizational security of the exhibition, the expected value of which was EUR 4.3 million and to re -assess the winning offer of a successful bidder – Mertel. Although the company offered the lowest price of 1.7 million euros, Slovakia Travel refused to sign a contract with it and would rather cancel the competition.

The agency justified this with time distress and claim that it would be more efficient if the services in question provide internal capacities, otherwise it cannot be done.

It is a procurement of goods and services such as translators, hostesses, gift items, costumes, whole cultural program and the like. As a foundation informed in the session across the lineIn the meantime, the agency actually bought several extended items directly and without competition, with at least one case twice the winning offer from Mertel. The uniforms for hostesses and hostesses, including shoes, offered for 7380 euros, Slovakia Travel bought it for more than 11,000 euros.

The State Agency was wrong

The ÚVO concluded that Slovakia Travel was wrong in this case, because it did not prove that the reasons for cancellation of the competition were real and objective and that it could not predict them.

The agency was defended that first negotiations with the Japanese party on the conditions at the exhibition in Osaka were very stretched and when they finally ended and the competition closed, there were objections to it from some candidates. All this was said to have caused such time delays that the agency had to start shopping for everything herself to prepare an opening ceremony.

However, the Office did not recognize such an argument and pointed out to the state agency that it had enough time to start and complete all the processes so that the exhibition in Osaka was ready in time. She knew about the need to declare a tender at least 14 months in advance.

One of the solutions was also to conclude a framework contract with the winner of the tender and to order only those goods and services that the agency has not yet purchased.

“The Office considers that the circumstances that according to Slovakia Travel have caused a change
the original conditions were caused by it itself, since demonstrably
It proceeded in violation of the Public Procurement Act, which subsequently got into time constraints, which justifies the cancellation of the tender, ”says the ÚVO.

The previous management of Slovakia Travel, headed by director Ivana Vala Magátová, is still responsible for the setup and course of the contested public procurement. The minister Rudolf Huliak He recalled precisely because of dubious processes in the preparation of Expo Osaka. In this sense, the current management of the agency is currently expressing.

« The task of the new management is to cope with the situation and deliver the result in the form of a successful presentation of Slovakia at the World Exhibition in Japan, » said SLOVAKIA spokeswoman Zuzana Eliášová.

Too low price?

One of the objections to the canceled tender was also directed to the doubt whether the winning offer of Mertel was not too low. One unsuccessful applicant argued that the price of EUR 1.7 million is unrealistic if the state itself assumed the value of the contract more than 4 million.

The complainant pointed out that Slovakia Travel did not judge the offer of Mertel as too low, which could also be a reason to exclude it. The ÚVO dismissed this objection, with the fact that the contracting authority is not obliged to have such a legal obligation.

However, it is questionable whether the winning bid of 1.7 million euros was too low or, vice versa, the state estimated price of 4.3 million euros is too high. For the organizational Security of Expo Dubaj 2020 Slovakia had a much larger pavilion with a built -up area of ​​931 m² and the price was about 2.2 million euros.

Now at EXPO Osaka Slovakia has only a small stand, which together with a commercial space of 68 m², which is almost 14 times less than in Dubai, but the estimated price should be almost double.

The current costs are certainly higher in terms of inflation over the past five years and a greater geographical distance, but it is questionable whether in this case Slovakia Travel has not disproportionately blowing the estimated amount of the contract. Therefore, the Stop Corruption Foundation also filed a complaint with the Supreme Audit Office to verify the economical management of public resources.